Railway draft gear



M m JW Y K l V ,w m m m w 2 ,H

A. H. KNNEWEG RAILWAY DRAFT GEAR Filed Jan- 20, 1926 r-f E. i dfi: ill'l .Vf

Nov. v23 1926.

Patented Nov. 23, 1926.

UNiTEo sTATEs PATENT orricE.

ALBERT H. KENNEWEG, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

RAILWAY DRAFT GEAR.

Application sied January 2o, 192e. seran no. 82,542.

An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that will fitwithin the pocket of the standard railway draft gear designed to absorbthe shocks produced by a force applied to the draw bar ineitherdirection.

l. further object is to provide an apparatus in which the springsemployed are placed under tension when a force is applied to the drawbar. y l

A further obj ect is to provide a novel type of spring constructiontogether with lmeans for exerting a'pull on the spring when a force isapplied to the draw bar in either direction.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown several embodiments of theinvention. In this showing, a

removed from the draft gear, parts being shown in section,

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view substantially on line 2 2 ofFigure 3,

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional vievsT substantially on line 3 3 ofFigure 1,

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the 'inner face of one side of theU-shaped connecting member,

Ifigure 5 is a plan view, Figure 6 is a plan view of a modified form ofthe invention,

Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 7 7 of Figure 6, and,

Figure S is a detail sectional view on line 8 8 of Figure 7.

Referring to Figures l to 5 of the drawprovide a substantially U-shapedconnecting member consisting of a pair of parallel arms 4 arranged onopposite sides of the plunger and a base 5. rlhe free ends of the armsare connected by a pin 6 (see Fig. 3) which eX- tends through anelongated slot 7 in the plunger. The connecting member 4 and the plungerare connected to each other by a Figure 1 is a perspective view of thedevice y 'hooks' 13 on their ends.

"number'off'springs 7,two being shown in this' instance on each lside ofthe plunger. The inner faces of the arms 4 are provided with projectionsS adjacent vtheir forward ends (see Fig. 4) and the sides of theplungerare provided with similar projections 9 (seeFi-g. 2),adjacent'their rear. ends. As

shown the springs are substantially circular `in shape and are providedwith lateral extensions 10 at each end adapted projections 8 and 9. l

The construction shown inFigures v6 to to receive the '8 ofthe drawings,issubstantially the same as that heretofore described exceptthat amodified form of spring is employed. In# stead of employing a pluralityof separate springsas shown in Figures l, 2 and 5, I employ ay singlespring 11 on each side of the plunger and this spring isarranged in asmany coils as desired. The ends of the spring are extended substantiallyparallel to each other as at 12 and aie provided with A connecting ring14 is placed over these hooks as shown in Figures 7 and 8 to secure thespring in position.

In the operation ofthe form ofthe de-` vice shown in Figures 1 to 5 ofthe drawings, when the 'draw bar moves backwardly As shown (see Fig 5)the rear end of the Aplunger is spaced from the base 5 of the connectingmember and the elongated slot 7 permits independent movement of theplunger. This rearward movement of the plunger moves the rear end of thesprings through the projections 9 and thus tends to straighten thesprings. or place them under tension. Likewise, when a pull is exertedon the draw bar the springs are placed under tension. The yoke of thestandard draft gear (not shown) which extends in the rear of the casing1 enga-ges the base 5 of the connecting member 4 to move the connectingmember 4 forwardly without moving the plunger. This increases thedistance between the two ends 10 of the spring through the engagementrofthe forward ends with the projections 8 and thus places the springsunder and thus the distance between the twoV ends of the spring, isincreased to place the spring under tension.

By employing a tension spring instead of the usual type of compressionspring a greater cushioning effect may be obtained in tlie limited spaceprovided and a construction is produced which may be eniployed inconnection with a standard draft gear without modifying the constructionof the draft gear.

lt is to be understood that the formsv of my invention herewith shownand described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, andthat various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or thescope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

l. ln a device of the character described, a plunger arranged inalineinent with the draw bar and independently movable with respectthereto, said plunger being adapted to be actuated by a rearwardmovement of the draw bar, a connecting member extending rearwardly ofthe plunger and adapted to be actuated by a forward movement of theyoke, and a. tension spring connecting said members.

2. in a device of the character described, a casing adapted to bearranged in the pocket of a standard raidway draft gear, a plungermounted in said casing and abut- 'ting the draw bar whereby rearwardmovenent of the draw bar will be transmitted to said plunger, aconnecting member mounted in said casing and extending rearwardly of theplunger, said connecting inemfber being adapted to be actuated byforward movenient of the yoke of the draft gear, and a tension springconnecting said plunger and said connecting member.

3. In a device of the character described, a plunger adapted to beactuated by a rearward movement of the `draw bar, a substann tially`U-shapecl connecting member surrounding said plunger, means foractuating said connecting member upon forward rearward ymovement of thedrawbar will be transmitted to said plunger, a substantially U-shapedconnecting*member mounted in said casing and surrounding the draw bar,means for transmitting forward movement of the draw bar to saidconnecting nicu'ibf. j and atension spring connecting said plunge1 andsaid connecting` member.

A device constructed in accordance `with claim l wherein said plunger isprovided with a rprojection adjacent one endand said member is providedwith a projection adj acent its opposite 'end to'receive said spring.

(i. A device constructed in accordance with claim 2 wherein said springcomprises a substantially circular member having Vdiametrically opposedextensions and said plunger and said connecting member are provided withprojections adjacent their opposite ends adapted to receive saidextensions.

7. In a device of the character described, a casing adapted to bearranged inv the pocketof a standard draft gear, a plunger mounted insaid casing and abutting the rear end of the draw bar whereby rearwardmovement of the rdraw bar is transmitted to said plunger, asubstantially U-shaped connecting member mounted iii said casingadjacent tlie'plu'nger and adapted to be actuated by forward movement ofthe draw bar, said plungerbeing provided with lateral projectionsadjacent one end, the adjacent faces of said connecting` member beingprovided with lateral projections adjacent the other end, and asubstantially circular tension spring mounted on-said projections.

In testimony whereof aifiX my signature.

ALBERT l-l. KENNEWVEG.

